Highest Post-Grad Unemployment

Posted
Friday, April 15, 2016 10:28 am

It's a harsh world outside of university, especially if your major doesn't directly translate into meaningful employment. Maybe you were deeply interested in a particular field that doesn't exactly bring home a paycheck. It is disheartening to find that your passion, whether it be metaphysical philosophy or maybe military history, is not a hot item in today's job market.

Regardless of what major you chose, the job market is rough for young workers. However, having a college degree definitely helps. Recent graduates experienced an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent in September 2015. In contrast, young workers without a college degree averaged at 10 percent unemployment. While having a degree provides a significant advantage in this challenging job market, the type of degree you get makes a difference.

For each major, we provide the unemployment rate, the underemployment rate and the median wages for early and mid-career graduates. In this list, underemployment refers to the percentage of graduates in positions that don't necessarily require a college degree. A recent college graduate is defined as those aged 22 to 27 with a bachelor's degree or higher and excludes individuals currently enrolled in school. Mid-career graduates are those aged 25 to 45.

The list of majors with the highest post-grad unemployment rates is ranked from lowest to highest unemployment rates. Any ties were broken using the early career median wage.

Note: We did not include majors from the survey that are vague umbrella terms and lead to repetitive results. The majors we chose to exclude are "general social sciences," "interdisciplinary studies," "miscellaneous biological sciences," "miscellaneous physical sciences" and "miscellaneous technologies." If someone had two majors, only the first major listed was included in the data. Unless otherwise noted, definitions for fields are derived from the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.

#29. Communications

Communication studies encompasses the "comprehensive knowledge of the nature of human communication, the symbol systems by which it functions, the environments in which it occurs, its media, and its effects," as defined by the University of California, Los Angeles.

#25. Commercial Art and Graphic Design

Graphic design students, according to The College Board, learn the "design and computer skills necessary to create the look for books, magazines, CD jackets, websites and more." Commercial design involves art for advertising.

#24. Liberal Arts

Liberal arts are intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop the general intellectual capabilities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills. Although many majors might fall under the "liberal arts," category, some schools, such as SUNY at Purchase College, provide it as a specific major.

#23. Mathematics

Mathematics is the science of numbers and their various operations. Duke University's Department of Mathematics explains that employers seek math students because "success in mathematics requires strong problem-solving abilities and outstanding analytical skills."

#19. Physics

Physics majors study the science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions in the fields of mechanics, acoustics, optics, heat, electricity, magnetism, radiation, atomic structure and nuclear phenomena.

#6. Art History

The University of Utah's Department of Art and Art History provides a degree program that "trains students to develop historically informed approaches to art and visual culture within the context of an interdisciplinary humanities education."

#4. Environmental Studies

DePaul University's environmental studies program incorporates "courses in natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, which will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of human interaction with the natural environment, emerging environmental problems and potential solutions."

#3. Mass Media

The mass media program at California State University San Marcos states that it "provides students with theoretically-focused and application-based frameworks to understand media, media technology, and its influence upon domestic and global culture and society."

The 10 College Majors With the Highest Post-Grad Unemployment

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